Balloon printing machine



`lan. 22, 1935. Y A, MYERS 1,988,662

BALLOON PRINTING MACHINE Filed May 18, 1952 2./ y Wt:

INVENTR ffl/e r' Myers.

o BY

ATTO R N E YS.

Patented Jan. 22, 1935 UNITED STATES .PATENT/- oFFiE j] My invention relates to printing machines and more particularly to a machine for printing in-v Yatable. bagsor balloons or other compressible objects. An object of my invention is to provide a printing, machine whichis adapted to print designs, iigures, Vpcturesor legends of any description, for example, advertising matter, on an inflatable rubber balloon'in an efficient, rapid and economical manner. l Y Another object'of my invention is to provide -machine for printing'multiple color designs or gure's or .combinations ofboth in a rapid and eflicient manner on an infiatable balloon. I also contemplate printing with the. machine vof inyinvention other types of inflatable bags lor com'pressible objects. j l

' Other objects and advantages of my 'invention will vreadily become apparent throughout a readving` of the following detailed description and ac-A companying drawing, in which:v K Figure 1 is a perspective view of a balloon printing machine'constructedin accordance with the principles of my invention; y Fig. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional detail view of one of the rollers of my printing machine, taken on the line 2-2'of Fig. 1;. L f j u Fig. 3 is a rear end View of a portion kof the printing v machine, and

Fig. 4 is a wiring diagram illustrating the valve .cut out hookup. v

' Referring now to the drawing in detailin which like "reference characters designate like parts throughout the several views, I have shown in 5 Fig. 1 aprinting machine embodying the principles of my invention in which a base is suitably mounted on a pedestal 1l. A pair of arched frames 12 and 13 each have a pair of legs14 and 15 by which they are mounted on the base 1G on voppositesides thereof. The frames extend vertically upward from the base 10 and support the operatingV mechanism. YA plurality of printing drums 16, three are employed in the specific yembodiment disclosed in the drawing, are rotatably and transversely mounted between the frames 12 "and 13.'.

'Axle shaftsl? extend through the drums on theiraxes and are xed thereto. The ends of .the axles 17 protrude beyond theends of the vdrums 1,6 'and arerotatably journaled in apertures 18 formed in the arches ofthe frames at 'equal' distances apart. It is important that the apertures 18, in which these drum axles are rotatably journaled, are spaced equidstant from 5 each other, see Fig. 3, to insure an equaldiStribupulley; 28 is xed'to'the gear 25,an'd'is`driven;by a belt 29 connected with some suitable source of tion of pressure of the .drumsron the inated bal-v loon or object b'eingprinted. If three drums are employed, asdisclosedin the specic embodiment shown in the drawing, they. are spaced so that their axes of rotation are exactly 120 'degrees 5 apart. Iffo'ur drums were employedthey rwould be spaced exactly'SU degrees apart. o-

' An inkng roller 2 0 is provided for each drum r16 and these rollers extend co-axially with their respective drums 'and arelin rotatablencontact 10 therewith. The rollers have shafts 21vwhich project beyond'theirJ ends and vonrwhichrh'they are v rotatably'journaled in apertures 22'formedinthe endsfof arms'23 of the frames 12 an'd13 which l, project outwardly therefrom.'l V o y 15 The driving mechanism forthedrums 16 isY designed to rotate all of the'drums'one complete lrevolution simultaneously and includes Aacen'tral gear 25Jwfhichl is rotatably mounted at the rear end of the Ymachine inwasuitable mannerlonja f bracket. .26 whichforms apart of theframe`13`. y(.lea'rs 27 which are of the same size as thegear 25are provided foreach drum .16and one of them is' iixed` onthefprojecting rear `end of-Meaohiaxle Ashaft 17."A Each gear 27is in mesh with the cen-'- ytral driving gear25 and one complete Vrevolution ofthe driving gear 25 Willl revolve each gear 27 and itsrespective drum .1'6 one complete revolution, since all of the gears'are' of the saJneLsize.l A i.

power not shown rin-.the drawing. i l Y Each druznl has its'sur/facecut out arcuately longitudinally of the drumat 30 and when theV drums are assembled in operative positionfin the machine the concavely arcuate cut out portions 30 are in registry to form an annular recess for the reception of a balloonforother spherical object to beprinted. of

The printing plates or c l,ts 31` are mounted on steel cylindrical sleeves32, by soldering or -in any other suitablehmanner.; Transversely extending dovetailedsteel splines 83 areI fixed to the inner surfaces of thesleeves 32 adjacent .the ends ofthe T, sleeves'. It isftoV be'notedthatthe sleeve 32Yis 45 not completely annular butis split and 4cutout ,complementary to the cut out portionBO ofthe drum. The dovetailed splines'33'are received in dovetailed slots,34 formed in theperipheryof v,the drum 16 transversely thereof and [nearthe 50 lcutout arcuate portion 30 as best shoWn,inFig..2. `The cylindrical sleeves 32 are thereforemdunted ron the drums bysliding them onto the vdrums from one end with the'splines 33sliding` in the grooves 34. This facilitates the rapid change'ffrom" one "55 set of printing plates or cuts to another since the cylinders may be quickly slipped on and oil' the drums and the printing plates or cuts will always be protected by the inner steel sleeve backing. The splines 33 will prevent the sleeves from getting out of alignment and will insure alignment of the plates when slipped on the drums without further adjustment. The sleeves 32 are held on the drums, in operation, by a set of screws 35 which pass through slots 36 of the sleeves 32 and through the splines 33 into the drum. The slots' 33 extend longitudinally of the drum and provide for longitudinal adjustment and alignment of th sleeves.

Means is provided to stop the operation of the mechanism upon one complete revolution of the drum which may be of any desirable form, the one illustrated in the drawing having a projecting stop 38, which may be formed on the pulley 28 as shown in Fig. 3. A bell crank lever 39 is pivotally mounted in a bracket 40 secured to the base 10 directly below the axis of the pulley 28, the upper end of the bell crank being adapted to be in alignment with and engage the projecting stop 38. Theother end of the bell crank 39 is bifurcated'andlpivotally secured at 41 to the upper end of a rod 42, the lower end of the rod 42 being pivotally secured at 43 in the bifurcated end of a foot treadle 44 which is pivotally mounted at its center in abracket 45. 'When the operator steps on the foot treadle 44 the bell crank 39 will be oscillated out of alignment with the stop 38 and the gear 25 and drivenj drums l'will be permitted to rotate, the 'operator having releasedtthe foot treadle during the-rotation of the drums, the stop 38 will be engaged at thecompletion of one revolution and stop the mechanism.V It is to be understood that this-:trip stop arrangement for permitvting one complete revolution of the drums 16 is only one form'of control` means which may be employed. y, f I

In the operation of the device of my invention a balloon 50 Vto be printed is slipped over one end of an air pipe49 Vwhichsupplies a predetermined amount ofY air to viniiatefthe,balloon'. The oper- 'ator inserts the balloon within the annular recess formedl between thethree rollers whenthe cut away portions 30are in registry, as theywilll be at the-beginning offjthe operation when the machine is idle, as illustrated in Fig. 1. The balloonv 50 is then inatedto a predetermined size, the treadle 44 is tripped by the operator and the drums 16 are rotated one complete revolution as hereinbefore described." Upon the initial rotation of the kdrums `16 the annular opening formed by the cut away portions 30 will be reduced in size to the distance between theouter periphery of the drumsas the portions 30 will be immediatelyv rotated out of registry with one another as shown in Fig. 1. This will compress the balloon and it will be displaced Ylongitudinally of the rollers andthe plates 31 will print the desired conguration, legend or'design upon the surface of' the balloon. At the completionofone rotation, the stop 38 will cause the rollers to stop in registry with one another as they were atY the commencement rof thegoperation vandthe pressure Will be relieved from the balloon andwit may be removed from the central opening `formed between the rollers by the cut away portins 30. It is apparent that an` equal spacing Aof the rollers relative to each other around the balloon is essential to produce an equal distribution of pressure during the printing operation to vinsure proper registry of the three plates asthe printing is done.

Multiple color work may easily be done in one operation or one rotative movement Vof the machine by having each of the three plates supplied with a diierent color ink from its respective ink applying roller 20; for example, one roller might be supplied with blue ink, another with red, an the third with yellow.

Means is provided in the balloon printing machine of my invention for automatically inlating the balloon to an exact predetermined size. This feature is important to insure proper printing of the balloon, equal distribution of pressure during the printing of the balloon and numerous other advantages which are readily apparent. I

contemplate,v employing any suitable means for predetermining the amount of inflation of the balloon, the form shown in the drawing including a light flexible metal clip 5l, one of which is secured to each drum 16 by a screw 52 and the spring clip is mounted in the recessed or cut away portion 30 ofthe drum. The clip is also arcuately shaped and' adapted to engage contact points 53 and 54 whenflexed as shown in Fig. 2. A pair of commutator rings 55 and 56 aremounted on the rear end of A each drum 16. Suitable brushes 57and 53. engage the respective commu-.- tator rings and the rings are concentric. The contact point 53 is connected to theinner commutator ring'55 by a wire 59 and the other .contact point 54 is connectedk with the outer commutator ring 56 by a wire 60. The respective sets of commutator rings on each of the drums are connected in series with a source `of electrical .current 62 as shown in Fig. 4. A valve 63 is disposed in the air pipe 51 which supplies the air to inflate the balloon. The valve 63 is adapted to shutoffv the supply of air when actuated, A solenoid 64 is hooked up in the circuit and is connected with the valve 63 to ac tuate the valve 63Y tov a closed positionwhen the solenoid is energized by a closing of the electrical series connection shown in Fig. 4. The circuit. will not be completely closed unless all of the spring clips 51 are exed to engage both. of theirA respective contact points. In the operation of this means for automatically predetermining thesize ofthe balloon, the balloon is placed' between the rollers as shown in Fig. 1 when the arcuate recessed portionsv 30'are in central registry with each other. The balloon. will be Vinflated through the air pipe 49 when the valve 63 is' in open position and when theballoon has been inated'to the proper size, which may be predetermined 'by the posi.- tioning of the spring clips 51, the clips 51 will' be flexed to. engage the contact points 53 and 5.4"and complete the electrical circuit whereupon' the solenoid 64 will be energized to actuate the control valve 63 and cut off the supply of air.v y

In this manner each balloon will be iniiated to exactly the required predetermined size and the spring clips vwill assist in aligning the balloon in exact central position relative to the vprinting drums.. As hereinbefore stated, numerous other means may be employed to predetermine the exact amount of inflation of the balloon.

Rapid, economical and accurate printing of the inilated .balloon is provided in the printing machine of my invention. The printing plates may be readily removed from the drums and replaced with other plates, requiring only a minimum of time and eiort to make the change, and the entire machine isl simple and economical in operation Vand produces startlingly accurate results..

As many ,changes could be made in the above described arrangement, and many apparently 'widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or showing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in the limiting sense.

What I claim is:

l. A machine for printing inflated balloons comprising at least three rotatable printing drums, the axis of each drum being spaced equidistant from the axis of each of the other drums to surround and support the balloon, each of said drums having an arcuate recess formed longitudinally in the surface of the drum to form an enlarged annular recess centrally between the drums for receiving the inated balloon when the arcuate recessed portions of each drum are in central registry, and means to simultaneously rotate each drum one complete revolution to compress and print the balloon.

2. A device for printing iniiatable objects having at least three rotatable printing elements disposed to surround and support the object to be printed, means to innate said object and means to predetermine the amount of inilation of the object to be printed.

3. A device for printing iniiatable objects having a plurality of rotatable printing elements disposed to surround the object to be printed, an air line to supply air to inate `the object, a valve in said air line and means to automatically close the valve when the object has been inflated to a predetermined size.

4. A device for printing inflated balloons having a plurality of rotatable printingl elements disposed equidistant from each other surrounding the balloon to be printed, each rotatable element having a portion of its outer surface cut away to form a central recess between the elements when they are rotated to a position with the cut away portions in central registry with each other, means to inflate the balloon and means to automatically control the amount of inflation of the balloon.

HUBERT A. MYERS. 

